Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Diocese a Man Built

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento was formed in 1886 from the Diocese of Grass Valley and portions of the surrounding Dioceses of San Francisco and Stockton. The founding bishop was Irish-born Patrick Manogue, the gold-miner turned priest whose vision and will shaped the future of the Catholic Church in the California Gold Country.

A great deal of literature is available from various collegiate and historical publishing houses on this fascinating figure in California's history. The Sacramento's aptly named Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament stands as a tribute to Manogue's determination and perhaps even his pride. The patron Saint of the Sacramento Diocese remains Manogue's own patron, St. Patrick, namesake of the original diocesan see in Grass Valley, and a number of parishes throughout the Diocese's 42,000 square miles. Since Manogue's time, countless Irish Priests have served in the Diocese of Sacramento, including powerful and political priests like Msgr. Edward Kavanagh, Rev. Dan Madigan, Rev. Michael Kiernan, and others throughout the Diocese.

In recent years, however, the administration of the Diocese has fallen to the Most Reverend Bishop William Wiegand. The existence of the Church of Peter beyond reproach and law has long faded, the sexual abuse scandals in Boston, Seattle, San Diego, and across the nation dealt the final blow to the ivory tower in which the Church once existed. The Sacramento Diocese, amazingly, has escaped such scrutiny and kept its victims of abuse locked away and quiet, financial scandal at its parishes and charities have been hidden, and the Bishop sits in his throne dictating radically conservative theology to his flock of thousands.

Protected by his blood-thirsty vicars, Walton, Deibel, Bland, and Kiernan, the Bishop of Sacramento is feared and disliked by his priests, lay staff, and even the faithful. His conservative agenda is anti-social-service, anti-catholic-education, anti-pastoral, and ethically, perhaps even morally, reprehensible.

This blog is open to those who wish to comment on Diocesan affairs, recognizing that in our Catholic, Universal, Church there is room for all opinion, from the theologically liberal, to the strict traditionalist. We hope to comment on Diocesan news releases, and, when possible, inside information.

God Bless the Diocese and help us to survive our current suffragan Bishop.